Boston Bruins: 5 Keys to Saturday's Matchup with the Winnipeg Jets

After a half-full/half-empty Black Friday matinee against Detroit, the Boston Bruins vie to take the point and run. That is, to kickstart another winning run through Saturday’s engagement with the newfangled Winnipeg Jets at TD Garden.

The 9-9-4 Jets have clicked on an off-and-on basis over their first seven weeks of operation; their active 4-0-1 unbeaten run has come on the heels of a 0-3-2 winless rut. But this mini-tear is easily their high point after never going more than two games without a regulation loss beforehand.

Unless this bout spills beyond the standard 60-minute time frame, one participating club will have to cut ties with a savory point-getting streak.

For the Bruins to keep reaping points as they have done in every extramural activity this month, the five most vital items to remember are as follows.

Finishing What They Start

The trigger was theirs to pull in the young phases of Friday afternoon’s bout with the Red Wings. But because the Bruins failed to put the puck in the net even on 13 first-period tries, they instead played from behind on two occasions and ultimately settled for partial credit after mustering a regulation draw.

With that result and the ensuing end to their 10-game winning streak, they ought to enter Saturday’s quick turnaround thirsting for something slightly more fulfilling.

Withholding Their Fuel

On the flip side to ensuring a fruitful start on the offensive front, the Bruins will serve themselves well if they can fluster Winnipeg’s endeavor to break the ice early. In each installment of their active five-game point-getting streak, the Jets have scored at least once in the opening frame and either led or tied after 20 minutes.

Overall, when ahead even after one period, Winnipeg is 5-0-3 this calendar month.

Conversely, in each of their three most recent regulation losses, the Jets came up empty in the early going and trailed at the first intermission. They are 0-4-0 altogether when trailing at the end of one and 0-8-2 when trailing after two.

Having just flown in from a Friday night tangle in Carolina, the Jets may already need to devote the first portion of the game to thawing out some travel-weary legs. But for Boston’s part, as was just demonstrated a day ago, the must-have key is capitalization.

Barring Byfuglien

If last year’s season series with the Jets previous incarnation is any indication, prolific point patroller Dustin Byfuglien all but has Boston’s number. In four encounters during the 2010-11 campaign, Byfuglien was never held off the score sheet and accumulated a 3-4-7 scoring log, giving him a hand in seven of the Atlanta Thrashers’ nine goals against the Bruins.

Whether it is for himself or a teammate, Byfuglien usually earns the requisite space to create plays with a rare but potent concoction of brawn and quickness. Whoever is covering him at any given time will need to be alert and ready to counterbalance the force he enacts.

Lethal Ladd

Winger Andrew Ladd has, at the very least, been the co-pilot of Winnipeg’s recent offensive outburst, which has seen the Jets insert 22 goals over the last five games, with only two of those going into an empty net.

For himself, Ladd has points in each of his last five outings (4-3-7 totals) and has produced in seven of his last eight (5-4-9).

And more often than not, as Ladd goes, so goes Winnipeg. When he registers a point, the Jets are 7-2-2. When Ladd is kept off the score sheet, his team is 2-7-2.

Penalty Killing, Time Killing

The Jets are tied with the Philadelphia Flyers (who else?) for the league lead with 107 occasions spent on the penalty kill, averaging a nightly median of 4.8 unaccompanied visits to the box.

Byfuglien is tied with fellow defensemen Zach Bogosian and ex-Bruin Mark Stuart for a team-high 12 minor penalties through 22 games, although Byfuglien’s discipline has been pristine in each of the last five. Perhaps not so coincidentally, the Jets have ended each of those nights with at least one addition to their point total in the standings.

Regardless, even though Winnipeg’s penalty killing and Boston’s power play are both in the middle of the NHL pack, the Bruins can complicate the Jets’ path in this game by exploiting their discipline detonator. The more time the Jets spend shorthanded, on top of the overnight travel, the more fuel they will expend.